Dev Log: Talking to Chris Wilson about Path of Exile

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Episode 1 of the new series 'Dev Log', talking to game developers about game development!

I sat down with Chris Wilson from Grinding Gear Games, the team behind Path of Exile, and talked about the new player experience, narrative versus mechanical design, how you respect a players time, and how you keep a game stable after 30+ expansions.

Thank you to the Patreon supporters and Twitch subs who keep the channel alive.

[BrandonGiordano]

This is such a good interview because you can tell how passionate and educated on games they both are

[robertsharp]

Its so cool seeing Josh move up, I can only hope to see how far you go. Never stop being yourself.

[Justanyo]

As a perennial Path of Exile player, I can't get enough of hearing Chris Wilson talk about games and development. Thanks for the video, you did a great job directing this conversation!

[tomchambers]

Awesome interview. So nice to see someone who’s not a 16hr a day PoE streamer interviewing Chris for 4hrs about the things that mainly affect them, but instead, someone who is interested in Chris himself, GGG as a whole, and how their lives look as game devs and the twists and turns they navigate through the lifetime of the game and the company.

[sirgog]

One of the things that made me fall in love with POE was that it does not attempt to be for everyone - and in doing so, it manages to be perfect for some people.

[fumeknight]

How can someone not like Chris Wilson? Great bloke, always enjoy listening to his interviews.

[milsvaard]

Chris is one of the most articulate human beings I've ever heard. Incredibly knowledgeable about his game even though he is in charge of the business side of things. I could listen to this man talk for hours.

[labdG]

I love how these two mirror eachother.
Josh says no to popular content creator conventions and strives for what is fun to him and viewers instead of what will be most popular or profitable.
Chris says no to popular game development conventions and strives for what is fun for the devs and the players instead of what will be most popular or profitable.
Both win tons of respect.

[mrgreenteatime]

This is a first time in my looong gamer history where an interview with the developer actually peaked my interest of trying out their game.
Good interview, thanks Josh

[eliwalls]

As a long time PoE player and content consumer, this is one of the best interviews with Chris I've ever seen. He's always great but the content of the questions here really showed what a great interviewer Josh is and how fantastic and honest Chris is. I don't watch a lot of PoE content anymore, I just play the leagues and watch the odd ziz and Palsteron video, as an old head jaded fan this really warmed my heart.

[xXHashassinXx]

Hearing the head of this game suggest that it would be great if I took breaks to play other games or have a balanced life is the best advertisement for path of exile that I've heard yet. When I repair my PC I may finally give it a try. It's so unusual for the guy at the top to respect my time and talk about players like people.

[Sharklops]

Chris is my absolute favorite developer out there. He's so passionate and knowledgeable and I love what he and GGG have created

[GoldenOakPharmacy]

Just adding to the choir: Great interview, Chris spoke well and passionately about his game, and Josh, your questions were far from the rote ones I'm sure Chris hears in every interview. I hope that Magic game happens for you both!

[ArafielV]

Man, when Josh does any talks or interviews it’s always to the point and always flowing. I look forward to more talks with other devs.

Maybe do a regular thing with Chris Wilson? Maybe not every league but a once in a while catch up kinda thing?

[mike-is-on-youtube]

this just auto-played on my tv because i love Josh’s “Worst MMO Ever” series

Never played PoE but damn! This makes me want to. Such a great interview in terms of prepared questions, and in-depth answers from a clearly passionate dev.

Awesome work, as always. I’ll be trying PoE out!

[vantuannguyen]

This man's personality is the reason I'm gonna give it a chance. Heck, I'll probably buy a thing or two just to show my support.

[yangnator]

What a gigachad of a developer, great job with the interview Josh

[lasarousi]

That question about "cashing out" people's trust was great.

It was loaded but you knew Chris would handle it well, specially mentioning tencent by name.

Good on both.

[timothyashe]

As someone that worked for Westwood Studios, back in the day, and had a small part in working on Command & Conquer his line about "Person that grew up playing Command & Conquer ... proper gamers here." just put a big old smile on my face.

[Artist_Over_Industry]

Chris Wilson brought me here. This format is INCREDIBLE, these questions are brilliant. I'll be around for awhile.